Pacers' Ivica Zubac Given Lukewarm Projection for 2026-27 Season

With training camp right around the corner, the Indiana Pacers are gearing up for what they hope will be a return to the same level of play they showed two years ago.

Following a 19-63 campaign last year, the Pacers are ready to get that bad taste out of their mouth. Just two short years ago, Tyrese Haliburton led the team on an impressive run to the NBA Finals. They took the Oklahoma City Thunder to Game 7 of the Finals before Haliburton went down with a torn Achilles.

Haliburton will make his return to the court in the season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on the road. That return has been highly-anticipated.

That being said, it will also be the first time that fans get to see new star center Ivica Zubac playing alongside of the star point guard.

Kevin Pritchard and the Indiana front office made the aggressive move to acquire Zubac in a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Clippers last season at the deadline. The addition of Zubac is one that the Pacers hope will put them over the top and bring home their first NBA championship.

Last season in 48 total games and five with Indiana, Zubac averaged 14.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. The year before with the Clippers he averaged 16.8 points, 12.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game.

RotoWire has released their projection for Zubac this season. The numbers suggested are not amazing, but they're certainly not bad.

According to the projections, Zubac is predicted to average 14.5 points, 11 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and a block per game.

Those numbers would be acceptable for the Pacers. However, it would be nice to see Zubac come closer to the 16 points per game he averaged two years ago in Los Angeles.

Zubac has been focused on improving his shooting since being acquired by Indiana. Myles Turner was such a threat playing alongside of Haliburton due to his ability to knock down the three-point shot. The Pacers shouldn't expect Zubac to shoot a lot of threes, but having the ability to knock down a shot from the perimeter would be crucial.

Only time will tell what Zubac's first full season in Indiana will actually look like. He has a chance to be the missing piece for the Pacers. Hopefully, he is able to exceed these projections and truly be a big-time upgrade over what Turner was two years ago.